Vehicle cooling arrangement

ABSTRACT

A vehicle engine cooling arrangement including a fan, a radiator and a mounting plate. The plate provides a fan mounting surface and a radiator mounting surface so that the fan and radiator are in a spaced arrangement. The plate extends from under the fan at the front of the vehicle to under the radiator downstream of the fan and guides air from the fan to the radiator.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Field of Invention

This invention relates to a vehicle cooling system. More specifically,this invention relates to an air cooling arrangement on an agriculturalvehicle.

Description of Related Art

Agricultural vehicles, such as agricultural tractors require a number ofradiators in order to cool working media, such as a water cooler for theengine, a transmission oil cooler, a hydraulic oil cooler, anintercooler and possibly a condenser for an air-conditioning system. Itis common practice to arrange the radiators in series one after theother under a bonnet of the vehicle so that air from a fan positioned atthe front of the vehicle drives air through the series of radiators.Radiators in this arrangement, however can result in creating a highresistance to air flow. To overcome the resistance, a larger fan may berequired. The radiator arrangement may also interrupt the air flowresulting in overheating of the radiator or radiators.

A tractor driver must be able to see the implements attached to thefront of the vehicle from the driver' seat which means the front bonnetmust not be too high or long. There is also a desire for the frontwheels of the vehicle to be steered as tightly as possible. For thefront wheels to be able to turned as far as possible, the bonnet of thevehicle, in which the radiator sub-assembly is arranged, must be kept asnarrow and low as possible. The radiator sub-assembly is thereforesubject to substantial restrictions with respect to its dimensionsparticularly in width and height. Since the heat sink of the radiatorscannot therefore be substantially increased, dissipation of theresultant waste heat presents difficulties, particularly because of thetrend to constantly increase the drive power of the vehicle. In order toobtain satisfactory heat dissipation, the radiators are usually arrangedin as series at different heights.

It is known to fix radiators to a carrier plate which is mounted to thetractor chassis. EP1849684 discloses a carrier plate which is fitteddirectly in front of the engine on an approximately horizontal levelbetween two longitudinal frames of the chassis in the front axle regionof the vehicle. Radiators are arranged on the plate in a series with theradiator nearest the engine being mounted on a lowered step of the plateto enable a taller radiator to be mounted. Such an arrangement does notoptimise the air flow through the radiators and may necessitate a largerfan to obtain the desired air flow.

OVERVIEW OF THE INVENTION

An object of the present invention is to provide an improved vehicleengine cooling arrangement in which the air flow through the radiator isoptimised.

According to the invention there is provided a vehicle engine coolingarrangement comprising a fan, a radiator and a mounting plate, saidplate providing a fan mounting surface and a radiator mounting surfaceso that the fan and radiator are in a spaced arrangement, said plateextending from under the fan at the front of the vehicle to under theradiator downstream of the fan and wherein said mounting plate guidesair from the fan to the radiator

This has the advantage that the mounting plate provides an air guidancemeans for guiding air from the fan to the radiator, as well as providinga mounting surface for mounting the fan and a radiator to the vehicle.

Preferably the mounting plate comprises a sloped surface between the fanmounting surface and the radiator mounting surface.

Preferably the mounting plate forms a channel with a part of a fanshroud to guide air from the fan to the radiator. Thus, all air from thefan is channelled to the radiator.

Preferably the sloped surface forms a channel with a part of a fanshroud to channel air from the fan to the radiator.

The channel may be further formed from a part of a vehicle bonnet. Thebonnet part may be a side panel of the bonnet. This arrangement providesa defined duct for the air to flow to the radiator.

Preferably the fan is titledly supported on the plate so that it istilted towards the radiator and directs air flow along the plate. Inthis way the air is forced directly down and along the plate.

Preferably the plate is provided with a cooling device mounting surfacedownstream of the radiator mounting surface and which is positionedlower than the radiator mounting surface. This allows a taller cooler tobe positioned on the mounting plate without affecting the overall heightof the arrangement.

Preferably the plate is provided with attachment means for attaching alight or heater core.

More preferably, the plate is provided with bore holes for receivingpipes of the radiators and/or channels for delivering liquid to theradiators.

The plate preferably has a generally Z shaped profile when viewed fromone side.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The invention will now be described, by way of example only, withreference to the following drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a side view of an agricultural tractor with the bonnet closed,

FIG. 1a is a perspective view of the bonnet of FIG. 1,

FIG. 1b is a side view of the bonnet of FIG. 1a with a hood of thebonnet raised in which a cooling arrangement in accordance with theinvention is shown,

FIG. 2 is a side view of a front part of the tractor bonnet of FIG. 1b ,and

FIGS. 3 and 4 are perspective views of the cooling arrangement of FIG. 2in which the bonnet panels and chassis are removed, and

FIG. 5 shows a cross section along line X-X of FIG. 4 which shows thecooling arrangement, and

FIG. 6 shows a detailed view of the front of the vehicle of FIG. 4.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

FIG. 1 is a side view of an agricultural tractor 1 having a front bonnet2 which houses an engine and a cooling arrangement (not seen) inaccordance with the invention. The bonnet 2 extends from a driver's cabla to the front of the tractor. A grill or mesh 3 is positioned at thefront of the bonnet through which air passes and enters the coolingarrangement shown in FIGS. 2, 3 and 4. The arrow indicates the forwarddirection of travel.

FIG. 1a is a perspective view of the bonnet of FIG. 1. The bonnet 2comprises a hood 2 a and two opposing side parts 2 b. When the bonnet 2is closed as shown in FIGS. 1 and 1 a, the hood 2 a has a fairly flatupper surface which extends in a generally horizontal manner from thecab. Towards the front of the vehicle, the upper surface of the hood 2 astarts to slope downwards and has an almost vertical front part at thefront of the tractor. The hood 2 a has an overhang which extends a smallvertical distance along each of the two long opposing side edges. Eachside of the bonnet 2 is formed from a side part 2 b and the overhang ofhood 2 a. The front part of the hood 2 a and a part of the upper surfaceof the hood is provided with the grill or mesh 3.

FIG. 1b is a side view of the bonnet 2 with the hood 2 a in an openposition. The hood 2 a may be lifted to give access to the parts underit by pivoting it about a pivot axis located close to the cab 1 a. Whenthe hood 2 a is lifted, it moves away from the side parts 2 b. Thelarger the tractor, the higher is the front of the hood when pivotedopen. In the open position, the hood is often too high for person toreach and then apply the necessary force to pivot it down to close it.The bonnet hood may be provided with a retractable belt 18 which extendsbetween a spring mounted roller and an attaching means. Either one ofthe roller or attaching means is positioned on the hood 2 a with theother part, attaching means or roller being positioned on the tractor,for example the chassis. When the hood 2 a is open the belt extendsvertically from the hood 2 a to the chassis. To close the hood, thedriver simply pulls a mid portion of the belt towards him or her whichcauses the hood to pivot downwards. As the hood 2 a is closed, the beltretracts in length by the roller rolling the belt under tension from theroller spring.

As shown in FIG. 6, the front of the hood is provided with a lockingmeans 50 for securing the hood to a front part of the tractor in aclosed position. Additionally, or alternatively for easy closure of thehood and to prevent damage to the hood, guidance means is providedcomprising two rollers 52 and two tracks 53. In FIG. 6, the hood isprovided with two rollers 52 either side of the locking means 50. Tracks53 extend in a substantially upright manner from a front part of thetractor which enables the rollers 52 to roll between the tracks 53 andguide the locking means 50 to the front of the tractor for engagement asthe hood is lowered.

Each side part 2 b comprises moveable side panels 6 a, 6 b and 6 c (inwhich a grill may be integrated). Side panels 6 a are located towardsthe front of the tractor and extend approximately from the fan 5 toradiators 6 as shown in FIG. 3. If more than one radiator 6 is fitted,the radiators are usually mounted in a series becoming increasinglycloser towards the engine. Panels 6 b and 6 c are located towards therear of the bonnet (that is in a direction towards the cab) and coverthe engine. Moveable side panels 6 a and 6 b are pivotally attached toeach side part 2 b so that they can be moved with respect to the sideparts to give access to components of the cooling system and/or enginesystem under the bonnet. The pivoting means may comprise spring means.Alternatively, side panels 6 a and 6 b may be fully, or partly removablefrom the side parts 2 b to give access.

The edges of the panels 6 a and 6 b or the edges of the side parts 2 binto which panels 6 a and 6 b fit are provided with a sealing means suchas a rubber tubing 14 (FIG. 2) to prevent the escape of air to theatmosphere.

If side panel 6 a is removable, it is attached to side part 2 b byclamps and hooks at the locations marked E in FIGS. 1a and 1b . Toenable the side panels 6 a to be easily removed, a hand grip 17 can beprovided on the side panels 6 a which allows a person to easily get agrip of the panels.

FIG. 2 is a side view of a front part of the bonnet 2 in which the sidepanel 6 a has been omitted so that the cooling arrangement inside thebonnet can be seen. A mounting plate 4 is provided which extends fromunder the fan 5 which is positioned at the front of the tractor behindthe grill 3 to under the radiator or radiators 6 which are positioned infront of the engine (not shown) with respect to the forward direction oftravel of the tractor. The tractor is provided with two parallel frames7 which form the chassis. The mounting plate 4 extends widthways acrossboth frames 7 and is provided with a fan mounting surface 8 and radiatormounting surfaces 9. The side profile of the mounting plate 4 is that ofa laterally extended Z in that the fan mounting surface 8 and radiatormounting surfaces 9 are generally horizontal and are connected by asloping surface 13 such that the fan mounting surface is elevated withrespect to the radiator mounting surfaces. Since the frames 7 arehorizontal, a support element 10 fixes the front of the plate 4 underthe fan mounting surface 8 to the frames 7. The support element 10 isaffixed to the frames 7 by bolts. The radiator mounting surface 9 of theplate is secured directly to the frames 7 by bolt means. On theunderside of the plate 4 at the area of the fan mounting surface 8,attachment means are provided for attaching a light or heater corethereto. In, or on the plate 4 at the area of the radiator mountingsurface 9, bore holes and/or channels may be provided for receivingpipes from the radiator, or radiators 6 and/or for delivering liquid tothe radiator or radiators 6.

Two air flows are indicated by arrows A and B. Air Arrow A shows an airflow for an air intake for the combustion of the engine and arrow B forcooling the radiators 6 and the engine. The fan 5 pushes air through theradiators 6 and the engine.

FIGS. 3 and 4 are perspective views of the cooling arrangement 11 inwhich the chassis and bonnet have been omitted. The difference betweenFIGS. 3 and 4 is that in FIG. 4 an extended fan shroud 12 is shown. Asshown in FIGS. 3 and 4 fan 5 is mounted on mounting plate 4 so that itis tilted towards the radiators 6. Fan 5 is secured to the fan mountingsurface 8 by fan attachment means extending through bores in the plate4. Radiators 6 are attached in series to plate 4 by bolt means. Theradiators 6 are in a spaced arrangement from the fan 5 with the fanmounting surface 8 at one end of the sloping surface 13 and the radiatormounting surfaces 9 at the other end.

The extended fan shroud is assembled from a number of parts boltedtogether. Preferably, the extended shroud comprises at least three orfour parts. In FIG. 4 the extended fan shroud 12 is shown having a lowerpart 12 a which extends from the bottom half of a fan ring 12 c in aforward direction with respect to the forward direction of travel of thetractor and an upper part 12 b which extends rearwards from the upperhalf of the fan ring 12 c towards the radiators 6 over plate 4. Theupper part 12 b is formed by two side parts 12 d (only one is shown inFIG. 4) and a central part 12 e. Side parts 12 d may therefore beconnected to either side of central part 12 e to from an upper part 12b. Alternatively, central part 12 e could itself comprise two halfparts, each of which is connected to a side part 12 e to form the upperpart 12 b

A flange 15 is provided with sealing means 16. The flange 15 extendsfrom a lower part of the fan shroud 12 a diagonally along opposing sidesof the upper part 12 b and across parts 12 b and 12 d of upper part 12b. Preferably the bonnet 2 may be provided with sealing means 16.Sealing means 16 may, for example comprise rubber tubing.

In FIG. 5 the cooling arrangement 11 is shown. The cooling arrangementshown comprises a fan 5 and radiators 6 in which the radiators arelocated downstream of the fan. It is envisaged that the fan 5 and theradiators 6 could be arranged the other way around so that the radiatorsare mounted upstream of the fan. In such an arrangement, the radiatorsare mounted in front of the fan with respect to the forward direction oftravel.

When the bonnet 2 is closed and in contact with the sealing means 16 twoair compartments are defined. A first air compartment C and a second aircompartment D. First air compartment C is partially positioned abovecooling fan 5, between the grill 3 of hood 2 a and extended fan shroud12. Compartment C is a low pressure area. The dotted line in FIGS. 2 and4 represents the grill 3 of the bonnet 2 when closed. With reference tofigure la in which the bonnet is closed, grill 3 is formed in the hood 2a so that it has a vertical, or generally vertical part 3 a and agenerally horizontal part 3 b. Grill part 3 b extends from grill part 3a towards the rear of the vehicle past fan 5.

Second air compartment D is positioned downstream of the fan 5 and asshown herein is located behind the radiators 6. Compartment D is a highpressure area and is enclosed by the hood 2 a, the flange 15 and bonnetside panels 6 b, 6 c. Air which passes through the radiators 6 enterscompartment D and then flows out to the atmosphere through a grillmounted in panel 6 c, or through the frames 7.

By compartment it is meant a partially or fully enclosed area in whichthe surface fully or partially enclosing the area may, or may not beairtight.

When the bonnet 2 is closed and sealed, the panels 6 a form an extensionof the fan shroud between lower part 12 a and upper part 12 b so thatair is channelled between the upper part 12 b, side panels 6 a andmounting plate 4 to the radiator 6. As a result, a complete fan shroudwhich extends from the fan to the radiator is formed from the upper part12 b, side panels 6 a and plate 4. Thereby the mounting plate 4 guidesair directly to the radiators 6.

When the bonnet 2 is closed and the sealing means 16 contacts the bonnet2 (or flange) two air compartments C and D are defined.

The invention claimed is:
 1. An agricultural vehicle having a coolingsystem comprising a fan, a radiator and a mounting plate, said mountingplate providing a fan mounting surface and a radiator mounting surfaceso that the fan and radiator are in a spaced arrangement, said mountingplate extending from under the fan at the front of the vehicle to underthe radiator downstream of the fan and wherein said mounting plateguides air from the fan to the radiator, wherein said mounting platecomprises a sloped surface between the fan mounting surface and theradiator mounting surface so that there is a difference in the relativeheights of the two mounting surfaces and wherein the sloped surfaceforms a channel with a part of a fan shroud to chanel air from the fanto the radiator.
 2. The agricultural vehicle as claimed in claim 1wherein the channel is further formed from a part of a vehicle bonnet.3. The agricultural vehicle arrangement as claimed in claim 1 in whichthe fan is tiltedly supported on the mounting plate so that it is tiltedtowards the radiator and directs air along the mounting plate.
 4. Theagricultural vehicle as claimed in claim 1 wherein said mounting plateis further provided with a cooling device mounting surface downstream ofthe radiator mounting surface and which is located lower than theradiator mounting surface.
 5. The agricultural vehicle as claimed inclaim 1 wherein the mounting plate is provided with attachment means forattaching a light or heater core.
 6. The agricultural vehicle as claimedin claim 5 wherein the attachment means is on the underside of themounting plate.
 7. The agricultural vehicle as claimed in claim 1wherein the mounting plate is provided with bore holes for receivingpipes of the radiators.
 8. The agricultural vehicle as claimed in claim1 wherein the mounting plate is provided with channels for deliveringliquid to the radiators.
 9. The agricultural vehicle as claimed in claim1 wherein a side profile of the mounting plate is generally an extendedZ shape.